Day 5: The Laver. Aaaaand we are in and good!

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24

And now we are in. Christ has let us in through His ‘door’, and then He offered up Himself as our sacrifice, promising that now that we are His, we will always be, and He will always be with us. It was the last thing He said before He left. ‘Behold, I am with you always, even until the end of the age’. (Matthew 28:20). That’s pretty definite. He didn’t really ‘leave’, He is here with us in spirit, and someday we will be with Him once again reunited for eternity. And since His sacrifice was a once-and-done for all time (Hebrew 10:10) there is no reason for us to focus on the altar, expecting to have to do it over and over, like the early Hebrews had to. We have been saved. And we are ‘free’ to walk around the court. 

And unfortunately, that is what most Christians are content to do. We are saved, and needn’t go any further.

But there is so much more. Even as we stand, looking around the court, Christ is beckoning us to the lavar, a large bronze basin full of water. For God want’s more than just for us to be saved. He want’s to have communion with us. To be a part of our every day life. And Christ, our Great High Priest is showing us that yes, we CAN go further in. We can actually go INTO the tabernacle itself where God dwells. He WANTS us to. But first…

Salvation is free. And that is what we received at the alter of sacrifice. But sanctification-that takes a bit more. And with it comes a deeper, more personal relationship with our Savior, Lord, King and God. Christ invites us to join Him as one of His priests. (1 Peter 2:9). But like the early Hebrew priests, there are some things we need to do, if we are to take our Priesthood seriously. Because we are called into that Priesthood. We are called to be set aside-that’s what sanctification is-to set something aside for a specific purpose.

The early Hebrew priests, before they entered into the tent of meeting, had to first wash the dust and sacrificial blood and ash from their face and feet. That was what the laver was for. While we do not know the dimensions, we do know that it was not really for bathing the full body. (Exodus 30:18-21). It was made from bronze mirrors that the Egyptians gave them at the Exodus, and the priests were able to look down into the basin to see where any dirt may lie, to cleanse their hands and feet.  Only once a year was it necessary to wash the whole body for sanctification, just like they needed to sacrifice for their sins once a year. But now, because of the cross that was the alter Christ sacrificed Himself on, our sacrifice is eternal, so we do not need to go through it again-killing Christ. 

Christ explained it best at the last supper, when Peter demanded that Christ wash him completely. John 13:6-10 tells of it. Christ explains that once we have been cleansed, all we need to do is knock the dust off. The sacrifice cleansed us-washed in His blood sacrifice. But now it’s up to us. If we want a deeper relationship, one where we go INTO the tent where God dwells, Christ shows us through the laver how. We look into it, and if we see dirt, grime, lingering sin, even though some of it was accidental (just as dirt on the feet was accidental-no one plans to have dirty feet, it just happens). But by looking at ourselves-examining ourselves-we can knock that dirt and grime off. This is sanctification. Salvation is done, salvation is out of our control. But sanctification, that’s up to us. Something we do with Christ showing us how. To leave it all behind-all the remnants of sin that keep us from fully communing with God. Just as the ancient Hebrews were given the commandment by God to wash off the grime, so too does Christ help us at the laver-just as He washed the disciples feet. We have already been cleansed, now we just  tidy up by taking a moment to reflect on ourselves, wiping off the grime and dust we picked up in our daily walk. Christ showed us how, and God had a mirrored washstand placed outside. We have to decide now how much further in we want to go. Sure, we are saved. But there is more, if we take a bit of time to ‘self-examine’. And Christ is there inviting us to do just that.

Scripture reading for today:

I Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Revelation 5:9-10
And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”